846 books
—
277 voters
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(410)
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read (662)
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poetry (79)
short-stories (76)
horror (73)
comics-comix-and-manga (64)
currently-reading (2)
read (662)
did-not-finish (0)
theatre (254)
fantasy (123)
french (119)
biography-and-memoir (81)
poetry (79)
short-stories (76)
horror (73)
comics-comix-and-manga (64)
history
(61)
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science-fiction (59)
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americana (51)
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new-york (48)
german (46)
queer (46)
literary-criticism (45)
fin-de-siècle (43)
japanese (43)
medieval (43)
Matthew
is currently reading
bookshelves:
currently-reading,
humor,
adventure,
new-york,
short-stories,
science-fiction,
romance,
horror
progress:
(page 164 of 285)
""The swift Southern twilight had already veiled the forest as I stepped out of the cabin to smoke a cigar and promenade a bit and cogitate. A last trace of color lingering in the west faded out as I looked; the gray glimmer deepened into darkness, through which the white lake vapors floated in thin, wavering strata across the water."" — Nov 05, 2025 11:03AM
""The swift Southern twilight had already veiled the forest as I stepped out of the cabin to smoke a cigar and promenade a bit and cogitate. A last trace of color lingering in the west faded out as I looked; the gray glimmer deepened into darkness, through which the white lake vapors floated in thin, wavering strata across the water."" — Nov 05, 2025 11:03AM
“Keep reading books, but remember that a book’s only a book, and you should learn to think for yourself.”
―
―
“As for literary criticism in general: I have long felt that any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel or a play or a poem is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae or a banana split.”
― Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage
― Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage
“This poem has been called obscure. I refuse to believe that it is obscurer than pity, violence, or suffering. But being a poem, not a lifetime, it is more compressed.”
―
―
“Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!"
A cold voice answered: 'Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye."
A sword rang as it was drawn. "Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may."
"Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!"
Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. "But no living man am I!”
― The Lord of the Rings
A cold voice answered: 'Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye."
A sword rang as it was drawn. "Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may."
"Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!"
Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. "But no living man am I!”
― The Lord of the Rings
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things..”
― Civil Disobedience and Other Essays
― Civil Disobedience and Other Essays
Matthew’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Matthew’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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